Well, I thought the cases of plague were much worse. That's a common idea in my country. We haven't had a case of plague for more than a century or two. That's why we don't know much about the bacteria. And that lack of knowledge causes fear each time we hear about it.
Fer sure. You didn't grow up with a healthy fear of squirrels: Call it "dirty bomb syndrome" - we're most afraid of what we don't understand. The first time someone releases radioisotopes over a major metropolis people will freak the fuck out. The second time? People will realize that they get more background radiation from a flight to Vegas than they do from sharing a room with a gram of uranium.In New Mexico, of approximately 105 species of fleas, 33 have been found plagueinfected. This does not mean they are all equally capable of transmitting the disease. The rock squirrel flea,Oropsylla montana, is the most important plague vector in New Mexico in terms of transmission to humans. The common dog and cat fleas do not transmit plague; however, dogs and cats can transport rodent fleas into the home environment.